Trivium 21c

In his diary column in the Times on Monday 5th January David Aaronovitch wrote about going to see, recently and for the first time, a production of the Merchant of Venice. Aaronovitch: “…nothing can disguise the fact that this was an anti-Jewish play for an anti-Jewish audience. The Jew cares as much for his money as he does for his daughter, and even more for the blood of a Christian than he does for his money. Thus he conforms to two of the great, historical anti-Jewish stereotypes.” Aaronovitch goes on to point out that Shylock is humiliated with the approval of the heroes of the play and that there is nothing a director can do to mitigate this. He finishes by stating that he will not go and see a production of the play again.

Anthony Julius writes: “I must confess to walking out of productions of the play when the fourth act is over, in protest. When Shylock leaves, so do I.” He argues that Shylock defines English anti-semitism. He writes: “The Merchant of Venice is the most important event in the history of Jew-hatred in England.” This event is compounded every time ‘The Merchant of Venice’ makes an appearance in school syllabi or is performed as a school production. Communities minister Eric Pickles describes anti-semitism as ‘an ancient evil’ and that: ‘Anti-Semitism… [is] completely incompatible with traditional British values and totally unacceptable in our society.’ In schools he wants to see lessons on the holocaust, yet whilst these lessons are being taught in a history classroom, across the corridor in an English or drama room one of the roots of our prejudice might be trotted out year after year. Teach it, do we not bleed? Teachers do get their students to discuss the play’s anti-semitic content, in fact they would possibly fall foul of all sorts of legislation if they didn’t, as David Cameron said: “There can never be any excuse for anti-Semitism, and no disagreements on politics or policy should ever be allowed to justify racism, prejudice or extremism in any form.” And yet this play is arguably an excuse for it. That it is written by, possibly, our most famous son and is part of what we think of as ‘high culture’ gives it a sheen of respectability that could mean we are irresponsible to teach it to children in our schools.

Daniel Hannan writes here about how the play is worse read than seen performed, because when performed the actor can subtly lessen the obnoxious elements of his characterisation, but on the page, he argues, it is unrelenting. Yet this play is part of our examination curriculum and its unrelenting nature increases under the scrutiny required for study at GCSE or A level. Would an examinee be able to write on her anger about this being an examined text, could a mark scheme cope with the vehemence of a child asked to sit through lessons upon lessons of this loathsome stereotype only to be asked to offer balanced and reasonable thoughts as to the ‘attitudes shown towards Shylock, possibly contrasting contemporary with modern reception?’ Shylock is not a person, he is a character in a play, a written device, and one that might appear too hateful to approach in a considered way.

Do exams allow us to get to grips with the real nature of this play’s portrayal of a Jewish character? What about a candidate who protests in an exam? How can she register her disgust about the play? By accepting the premise of the play as being ‘acceptable’ to study does she not collude with it being part of our educational canon? What if she wrote that the play was anti-semitic and that the areas the mark scheme focuses on accept the stereotype rather than alleviate it? Or what if she walks out after answering the questions on other texts after spoiling the Merchant part of her exam paper in protest?

Here is an AQA exemplar question and mark scheme for the GCSE (2014):

Todays events in Paris should give us pause for thought. Free speech is an important part of our tradition. I think we should study the Merchant of Venice. If anything, the play can be used to answer the question ‘How great was Shakespeare?’ and maybe brought in as evidence for the anti-Shakespeare lobby. Questions could be asked about Shylock and the whether the play reflects its writer’s anti-semitism, the anti semitism of the time and whether the play should be performed or studied at all in this day and age. This should be conducted in a way that allows for a full discussion rather than silencing opinion through an expectation of politically correct viewpoints that might be encouraged  by our need to represent British values of ‘tolerance’. The best way to counter unpleasant views is to allow them to be expressed and then counteract them, in fact to display the British value of ‘intolerance’ of ‘intolerance’ maybe? However, the nature of examinations means it should not be studied for exam purposes, no matter how well the exam boards might think they cope with the ‘Shylock question,’ there must be some doubt about whether every child studying the play will agree that he should be thought of as a ‘character’ at all.

But it is its possible performance in the school theatre that brings me to this distressing conclusion, I do not think a school age cast should ever be asked to perform the Merchant of Venice especially in an atmosphere where schools have to respond to the ‘British Values’ agenda. A young actor getting to grips with the character or being asked to ‘sanitise’ his portrayal has a formidable task whether they are Jewish or Gentile, therefore as a school play, or as a performed exam piece it could be far too awkward or challenging. (Howard Sherman writes passionately about school theatre censorship here. Here is a review of a Jewish production of the Merchant of Venice at the Globe)

We could also have the same discussions about Oliver Twist and the character of Fagin, that other major contribution to anti-semitism in our cultural landscape. As Julius puts it: “These, then, are England’s gifts to Jew hatred.” Made even more likely to be performed in a school as a musical, with its delightful score written by the Jewish composer Lionel Bart, Fagin offers huge challenges for any performer or, indeed, any examinee writing about him. I think we might have to ask similar questions about Oliver but, maybe, draw different conclusions?

Which brings me to the Taming of the Shrew…